Weighing Into Comics

Previously on The Panel Biter, I talked about how many comic book characters suffer from disabilities. What I haven't discussed yet are the few characters in comic books who are overweight. At first glance it would seem most overweight comic book characters are background or supporting characters, but the more fleshed-out heavyset heroes and villains I found might surprise you.

Let's start off with Bouncing Boy, who debuted in 1961's "Action Comics #276". Chuck Taine was an overweight teenager from the 30th Century who had accidentally drank an experimental plastic formula. This formula gave Chuck the ability to inflate his body into a spherical shape. By mastering this power and it's rubber attributes, Chuck turned himself into a lethal force called The Bouncing Boy. Normally a member of The Legion of Superheroes, Chuck has often been cut from the team because his peers thought his powers were too ridiculous. However despite his weight and his ridiculous superpower, Chuck earned respect among The Legion and eventually married one of it's members, Duo Damsel.

Marvel Comics-on the other hand-has a more sinister set of slobbish samaritans. In 1964's "X-Men #3", the heroic band of mutants meet a mutant known as Fred Dukes, better known by his circus name "The Blob". Fred's mutation cursed him with incurable obesity, but also the ability to resist any force pushed on him, this allowed Fred to make money off his circus performance and proclaim himself "The Immovable Object". Professor X and the X-Men tried to recruit The Blob, but Fred's attitude annoyed his fellow X-Men and he saw his circus life as being more beneficial to him. However, Professor X couldn't let Fred leave without wiping his mind of any memory of The X-Men. This resulted in a battle between the X-Men and The Blob at the circus, luckily ending with Professor X erasing the X-Men's existence from Fred and the circus audience's minds. Fred would get these memories back through the mutant terrorist Magneto and join his Brotherhood of Mutants.

Finally we have the most compelling overweight comic book character, Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin. Wilson was once a lower-class boy in New York City who was bullied for his obesity, in retort to this abuse he began physically training himself and using his immense weight as a weapon. With a newfound sense of strength, Wilson bullied his peers into joining his gang until he was discovered by Don Rigoletto, a powerful crime lord. Wilson acted as The Don's bodyguard and assistant, eventually killing The Don and taking his place as The Kingpin of Crime. Throughout his early years The Kingpin had traveled to other countries to set up crime rings, begin his own spice business to gain wealth and return to New York to spark gang wars and take control of organized crime. He would take control of both the terrorist group HYDRA and the assassin guild known as The Hand. New York vigilantes like Spider-Man, The Punisher and Daredevil would go up against The Kingpin, and he'd even come to blows with Captain America.

Character like these may differ in how they use their obesity, but they share a common theme in that their weight never came off as a weakness, but more of a motivator. None of these three have ever considered losing their weight, they instead embrace their physical appearance and focus on other tasks like saving lives, performing, and building empires. Speaking as an overweight person myself, I've always felt that one's appearance is their own subject to change. If you don't like what you look like you should change it, if you're comfortable with the way you are then stay the way you are, but don't let other people make your choices. At any rate, don't doubt yourself for your appearance, rather you should use it to your advantage. Thanks for reading!